The Evolution of Civilization

Since our species originated hundreds of thousands of years ago, which forces drove the rise of key elements of civilization: health, trade, cooperation, farming, cities, energy, industrialization, and the demographic transition? Which trends will arise in our future? We'll cover these themes in chronological order, as well as exploring them in modern times. How did we roughly triple our life expectancy? What may have led our species to widely accumulate and share knowledge? Why did we fall from masters of mammoths to servants of sickles, while our population rose? When did we congregate into cities: before or after agriculture? How did we change from 100% renewable energy to almost all non-renewable, and a future rapidly returning to renewable? Where did we industrialize, escaping the Malthusian trap and extreme poverty? Who has children, leading the population to explode, plateau, or shrink? In about a hundred minutes of videos divided into four modules— Homo Sapiens in Training , Breakout! , Success? , and Change and the Future… —each with an interactive game, learn some of the highlights of human history. Humanity has striven and studied to achieve incredible feats: eliminating smallpox, mastering technology, and climbing from bare survival as subsistence farmers to living more comfortably than kings of past centuries. Despite stumbles and slaughters, the long-term trend is still improving. By learning from the past, we may avoid its mistakes and repeat its successes to keep our future on track. 3b:T12

• Analyze causes of the Industrial Revolution and Demographic Transition.
• Recognize and predict feedback loops in economy, technology, and history.
• Analyze when a disadvantage becomes an advantage, and vice versa.
• Measure health, education, and happiness; devise policies to improve them.
• See how Producer and Consumer Explosions improved quality of life.
• Recognize types of technological or economic change.
• Make forecasts of technological or economic changes.

• No Prerequisite.